Major League Soccer will not come to Charlotte, and we missed an opportunity.

Detractors frame the issue like this: If you commit to soccer you do nothing more than help Marcus and Bruton Smith, the rich people who would own the franchise, become richer. The end.

Charlotte has thousands of young people – young people who arrived long after the inception of the Carolina Panthers and Charlotte Hornets – and this team would have been theirs. Memorial Stadium, which is where downtown and Elizabeth come together, was an ideal location.

We – Charlotte and Mecklenburg County – would have spent money to procure the team. The stadium would have cost an estimated $175 million. Spending money is what you do to attract professional sports (and corporations). We spent money on the Charlotte Knights’ BB&T Ballpark. You ever see a game there? It’s one of those places you bring out of town guests.

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